|
It is with great sadness that I announce to the group that our moderator and my good friend, Louis Proyect, has died. He had a serious illness for some time. He died peacefully in his sleep on August 25. I will miss him greatly, and I assume you will as well.
He began the listserv many years ago and kept it alive and growing through trying times. Louis was a voracious reader, and almost every day, he posted links to articles from a wide variety of sources on multiple subjects, from politics and economics to music
and philosophy to physics and ecology. I am sure we have all learned a great deal from his posts. He did much in his life, through his efforts in Nicaragua and South Africa, for example, and with his voluminous writing, to push radical transformation forward.
He allied himself with leftists around the world. He seemed to know just about everybody. Those who knew him personally know that he was a good human being, always willing to help a friend, no matter where in the world that person happened to be. He and his
wife Mine showed me and my partner many kindnesses over the years.
Louis wanted the list to continue. Les Schaffer and I will see if we can make this happen. He will be posting a note today as well. In the meantime, keep posting and discussing, especially the latter. It is through thoughtful interchange than we learn how to
sharpen our arguments.
Goodbye, Louis. You will live on in our hearts and in our efforts to change the world.
|
|
|
Thank you for that post, Michael. I am relatively new to Marxmail but I learned a tremendous amount --- we all feared Louis was fadiing but didn't want to believe it --- You are right --- he will live on --- but many of us will actually have to step up our games --
as Holly Near wrote in "It could have been me ...."
".... I'll keep doing the work you were doing as if I were two ...." --- a tough admonition to follow but ....
Solidarity, Mike
It is with great sadness that I announce to the group that our moderator and my good friend, Louis Proyect, has died. He had a serious illness for some time. He died peacefully in his sleep on August 25. I will miss him greatly, and I assume you will as well.
He began the listserv many years ago and kept it alive and growing through trying times. Louis was a voracious reader, and almost every day, he posted links to articles from a wide variety of sources on multiple subjects, from politics and economics to music
and philosophy to physics and ecology. I am sure we have all learned a great deal from his posts. He did much in his life, through his efforts in Nicaragua and South Africa, for example, and with his voluminous writing, to push radical transformation forward.
He allied himself with leftists around the world. He seemed to know just about everybody. Those who knew him personally know that he was a good human being, always willing to help a friend, no matter where in the world that person happened to be. He and his
wife Mine showed me and my partner many kindnesses over the years.
Louis wanted the list to continue. Les Schaffer and I will see if we can make this happen. He will be posting a note today as well. In the meantime, keep posting and discussing, especially the latter. It is through thoughtful interchange than we learn how to
sharpen our arguments.
Goodbye, Louis. You will live on in our hearts and in our efforts to change the world.
_._,_._,
|
|
|
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
It is with great sadness that I announce to the group that our moderator and my good friend, Louis Proyect, has died. He had a serious illness for some time. He died peacefully in his sleep on August 25. I will miss him greatly, and I assume you will as well.
He began the listserv many years ago and kept it alive and growing through trying times. Louis was a voracious reader, and almost every day, he posted links to articles from a wide variety of sources on multiple subjects, from politics and economics to music
and philosophy to physics and ecology. I am sure we have all learned a great deal from his posts. He did much in his life, through his efforts in Nicaragua and South Africa, for example, and with his voluminous writing, to push radical transformation forward.
He allied himself with leftists around the world. He seemed to know just about everybody. Those who knew him personally know that he was a good human being, always willing to help a friend, no matter where in the world that person happened to be. He and his
wife Mine showed me and my partner many kindnesses over the years.
Louis wanted the list to continue. Les Schaffer and I will see if we can make this happen. He will be posting a note today as well. In the meantime, keep posting and discussing, especially the latter. It is through thoughtful interchange than we learn how to
sharpen our arguments.
Goodbye, Louis. You will live on in our hearts and in our efforts to change the world.
|
|
|
I am sad to hear of Louis' passing and send my condolences to his wife.
It is with great sadness that I announce to the group that our moderator and my good friend, Louis Proyect, has died. He had a serious illness for some time. He died peacefully in his sleep on August 25. I will miss him greatly, and I assume you will as well.
He began the listserv many years ago and kept it alive and growing through trying times. Louis was a voracious reader, and almost every day, he posted links to articles from a wide variety of sources on multiple subjects, from politics and economics to music
and philosophy to physics and ecology. I am sure we have all learned a great deal from his posts. He did much in his life, through his efforts in Nicaragua and South Africa, for example, and with his voluminous writing, to push radical transformation forward.
He allied himself with leftists around the world. He seemed to know just about everybody. Those who knew him personally know that he was a good human being, always willing to help a friend, no matter where in the world that person happened to be. He and his
wife Mine showed me and my partner many kindnesses over the years.
Louis wanted the list to continue. Les Schaffer and I will see if we can make this happen. He will be posting a note today as well. In the meantime, keep posting and discussing, especially the latter. It is through thoughtful interchange than we learn how to
sharpen our arguments.
Goodbye, Louis. You will live on in our hearts and in our efforts to change the world.
|
|
|
I am very, very sad to read this news. Louis was one of the best people on the left in the USA and internationally. I only met him in person once, but he became my friend through our online conversations, on this list and off. He had an amazingly wide scope of knowledge, and even when he and I disagreed, I always thought his views were strongly based and strongly argued.
Anthony
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http://www.columbia.edu/~lnp3/mypage.htm
|
"a revolutionary career
does not lead to banquets and honorary titles,
interesting research and professorial wages. It
leads to misery, disgrace, ingratitude, prison and a
voyage into the unknown, illuminated by only an
almost superhuman belief."
Max
Horkheimer
|
 |
|
Louis Proyect, Istanbul, 2005
|
I am the moderator of the Marxism
mailing list, where my various articles first appear. For
information on how
to subscribe to the list, go here.
I first became active in socialist politics in 1967,
the beginning of my 11 years in the American Trotskyist movement.
Despite my profound respect for Leon Trotsky as a Marxist thinker,
I
view the Trotskyist movement as such a sectarian mistake.
Throughout
most of the 80s, I was active in the Central American solidarity
movement, first with CISPES and then with Tecnica, an organization
that
sent computer programmers and other skilled professionals to
Nicaragua.
The project eventually took root in southern Africa as well, where
it
worked with SWAPO and the ANC. More recently I have given
workshops on
the Internet to community and union groups, as well as moderating
a
Marxist mailing list on the Internet that can be linked to above.
I have been strongly influenced by the example of
The Socialist
Union, a group led by Bert Cochran and Harry Braverman who left
the Trotskyist
movement in 1953 in order to create an alternative to the
sectarian
"vanguard" model. For six years they published a magazine called The
American Socialist and worked to regroup the left. Marxmail
is a conscious
attempt to link up with their traditions.
I have also created a small archive
of the writings of James M. Blaut, who died in November, 2000. Jim
was an
outstanding scholar and revolutionary whose contributions to our
movement are
best commemorated through his work.
My articles, many of which appeared originally as postings to
the Marxism list, have appeared in Sozialismus (Germany), Science
and
Society, New Politics, Journal of the History of Economic Thought,
Organization and Environment, Cultural Logic, Dark Night Field
Notes,
Revolutionary History (Great Britain), New Interventions (Great
Britain), Canadian Dimension, Revolution Magazine (New Zealand),
Swans
and Green Left Weekly (Australia).
I am also a proud member of the NY Film Critics Online:
Email me
Search my articles
|
My articles are grouped in the following categories:
|
10 most recent posts
Devils
(June 18, 2021)
Was
American Indian Overhunting Responsible for the
Near-Extinction of the Buffalo? (June 16, 2021)
Thinking
like an Octopus (June 16, 2021)
Crisis
(May 21, 2021)
There
is No Evil (May 17, 2021)
Hard
Crackers: the Revolutionary Legacy of Noel Ignatiev
(May 14, 2021)
Paris
Calligrammes (May 11, 2021)
What
Richard Armitage and Vijay Prashad have in common
(May 4, 2021)
8
Billion Angels; The Land of Azaba (April 27, 2021)
Looking
past the plant-gate to understand white supremacy
(April 20, 2021)
|
On 2021/08/27 15:20, Michael Meeropol
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Thank you for that post, Michael. I am
relatively new to Marxmail but I learned a tremendous amount
--- we all feared Louis was fadiing but didn't want to believe
it --- You are right --- he will live on --- but many of us
will actually have to step up our games --
as Holly Near wrote in "It could have been me ...."
".... I'll keep doing the work you were doing as if I
were two ...." --- a tough admonition to follow but ....
Solidarity, Mike
It is with great sadness that I announce to the group
that our moderator and my good friend, Louis Proyect,
has died. He had a serious illness for some time. He
died peacefully in his sleep on August 25. I will miss
him greatly, and I assume you will as well. He began
the listserv many years ago and kept it alive and
growing through trying times. Louis was a voracious
reader, and almost every day, he posted links to
articles from a wide variety of sources on multiple
subjects, from politics and economics to music and
philosophy to physics and ecology. I am sure we have
all learned a great deal from his posts. He did much
in his life, through his efforts in Nicaragua and
South Africa, for example, and with his voluminous
writing, to push radical transformation forward. He
allied himself with leftists around the world. He
seemed to know just about everybody. Those who knew
him personally know that he was a good human being,
always willing to help a friend, no matter where in
the world that person happened to be. He and his wife
Mine showed me and my partner many kindnesses over the
years.
Louis wanted the list to continue. Les Schaffer and I
will see if we can make this happen. He will be
posting a note today as well. In the meantime, keep
posting and discussing, especially the latter. It is
through thoughtful interchange than we learn how to
sharpen our arguments.
Goodbye, Louis. You will live on in our hearts and in
our efforts to change the world.
_._,_._,
|
|
|
I am so sorry to learn of Louis's death. I am a relatively new subscriber and have benefited a great deal from the list. When I had trouble with technicalities, he spent a lot of time trying to help me. I will miss him.
It is with great sadness that I announce to the group that our moderator and my good friend, Louis Proyect, has died. He had a serious illness for some time. He died peacefully in his sleep on August 25. I will miss him greatly, and I assume you will as well.
He began the listserv many years ago and kept it alive and growing through trying times. Louis was a voracious reader, and almost every day, he posted links to articles from a wide variety of sources on multiple subjects, from politics and economics to music
and philosophy to physics and ecology. I am sure we have all learned a great deal from his posts. He did much in his life, through his efforts in Nicaragua and South Africa, for example, and with his voluminous writing, to push radical transformation forward.
He allied himself with leftists around the world. He seemed to know just about everybody. Those who knew him personally know that he was a good human being, always willing to help a friend, no matter where in the world that person happened to be. He and his
wife Mine showed me and my partner many kindnesses over the years.
Louis wanted the list to continue. Les Schaffer and I will see if we can make this happen. He will be posting a note today as well. In the meantime, keep posting and discussing, especially the latter. It is through thoughtful interchange than we learn how to
sharpen our arguments.
Goodbye, Louis. You will live on in our hearts and in our efforts to change the world.
|
|
|
Oops, I meant to add a tribute to this reminder of where at least
online Louis does live on, in such amazing outputs... but I'm not
sure what to say about how he influenced me and countless others,
to stiffen our spine and take marxism seriously. I have so many
durable, warm memories in the 20+ years of occasional sightings of
Louis in NYC.
Hamba kahle Louis, travel well.
Amandla! Awethu!*
*Power, to the people... which he uttered many times in Zambia in
harmony with African National Congress comrades in exile when he
visited there as a Technica volunteer during the 1980s... a time
of relative innocence, before, as he told me it was easy to
predict, came 1990, unbannings, and the transition to a non-racial
democracy with, now, much worse inequality, poverty, unemployment
and ecological decay here. Still, we hope - as he did - there
would be more opportunities at some stage for genuine power to the
peop.e.
On 2021/08/27 15:59, Patrick Bond
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
http://www.columbia.edu/~lnp3/mypage.htm
|
"a revolutionary career
does not lead to banquets and honorary titles,
interesting research and professorial wages. It
leads to misery, disgrace, ingratitude, prison and
a voyage into the unknown, illuminated by only an
almost superhuman belief."
Max Horkheimer
|
|
|
Louis Proyect, Istanbul, 2005
|
I am the moderator of the Marxism
mailing list, where my various articles first appear. For
information on how to subscribe to the list, go here.
I first became active in socialist politics in
1967, the beginning of my 11 years in the American Trotskyist
movement. Despite my profound respect for Leon Trotsky as a
Marxist thinker, I view the Trotskyist movement as such a
sectarian mistake. Throughout most of the 80s, I was active in
the Central American solidarity movement, first with CISPES and
then with Tecnica, an organization that sent computer
programmers and other skilled professionals to Nicaragua. The
project eventually took root in southern Africa as well, where
it worked with SWAPO and the ANC. More recently I have given
workshops on the Internet to community and union groups, as well
as moderating a Marxist mailing list on the Internet that can be
linked to above.
I have been strongly influenced by the example of
The Socialist Union, a group led by Bert Cochran and Harry
Braverman who left the Trotskyist movement in 1953 in order to
create an alternative to the sectarian "vanguard" model. For six
years they published a magazine called The American Socialist and worked
to regroup the left. Marxmail is a conscious attempt to link up
with their traditions.
I have also created a small archive of the writings of James M.
Blaut, who died in November, 2000. Jim was an outstanding
scholar and revolutionary whose contributions to our movement
are best commemorated through his work.
My articles, many of which appeared originally as postings to
the Marxism list, have appeared in Sozialismus (Germany),
Science and Society, New Politics, Journal of the History of
Economic Thought, Organization and Environment, Cultural Logic,
Dark Night Field Notes, Revolutionary History (Great Britain),
New Interventions (Great Britain), Canadian Dimension,
Revolution Magazine (New Zealand), Swans and Green Left Weekly
(Australia).
I am also a proud member of the NY Film Critics Online:
Email me
Search my articles
|
My articles are grouped in the following categories:
|
10 most recent posts
Devils (June 18, 2021)
Was American Indian Overhunting
Responsible for the Near-Extinction of the Buffalo?
(June 16, 2021)
Thinking like an Octopus
(June 16, 2021)
Crisis (May 21, 2021)
There is No Evil (May 17,
2021)
Hard Crackers: the
Revolutionary Legacy of Noel Ignatiev (May 14,
2021)
Paris Calligrammes (May 11,
2021)
What Richard Armitage and Vijay
Prashad have in common (May 4, 2021)
8 Billion Angels; The Land of
Azaba (April 27, 2021)
Looking past the plant-gate to
understand white supremacy (April 20, 2021)
|
On 2021/08/27 15:20, Michael Meeropol
wrote:
Thank you for that post, Michael. I am
relatively new to Marxmail but I learned a tremendous amount
--- we all feared Louis was fadiing but didn't want to
believe it --- You are right --- he will live on --- but
many of us will actually have to step up our games --
as Holly Near wrote in "It could have been me ...."
".... I'll keep doing the work you were doing as if I
were two ...." --- a tough admonition to follow but ....
Solidarity, Mike
It is with great sadness
that I announce to the group that our moderator and
my good friend, Louis Proyect, has died. He had a
serious illness for some time. He died peacefully in
his sleep on August 25. I will miss him greatly, and
I assume you will as well. He began the listserv
many years ago and kept it alive and growing through
trying times. Louis was a voracious reader, and
almost every day, he posted links to articles from a
wide variety of sources on multiple subjects, from
politics and economics to music and philosophy to
physics and ecology. I am sure we have all learned a
great deal from his posts. He did much in his life,
through his efforts in Nicaragua and South Africa,
for example, and with his voluminous writing, to
push radical transformation forward. He allied
himself with leftists around the world. He seemed to
know just about everybody. Those who knew him
personally know that he was a good human being,
always willing to help a friend, no matter where in
the world that person happened to be. He and his
wife Mine showed me and my partner many kindnesses
over the years.
Louis wanted the list to
continue. Les Schaffer and I will see if we can make
this happen. He will be posting a note today as
well. In the meantime, keep posting and discussing,
especially the latter. It is through thoughtful
interchange than we learn how to sharpen our
arguments.
Goodbye, Louis. You will
live on in our hearts and in our efforts to change
the world.
_._,_._,
|
|
|
It is shocking. I remember he was very rational in his assessment of any situation.
I bow to you, Louis.
Vijaya Kumar Marla
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|
I join you in remembering Louis. I have sometimes wondered if we crossed paths in Nicaragua. I was there late in 1988 as part of a TecNica work group.
ken h
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|
My condolences to Mine Aysen Doyran and the rest of his family, and to the many comrades that Lou had all over the world. I had known him online for almost 25 years. This Marxmail List was just one of his many contributions to leftist discourse. May he Rest in Power.
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Louis contributed so much to making this place a better world with his activism, and the creation of Marxmail. I hope the latter survives his passing as a space for sharpening our understanding and as a tribute to Louis's work.
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I, along with many others, have received this message with great sadness.
I have been a member of this list for some twenty years. Am very grateful for the work Louis did in maintaining this forum for such a long time, no easy task I am sure. The service the list provided was invaluable, especially in the 2000s which was a particularly dark time for the U.S. left. While I fervently hope this list will continue, the perspective that Louis brought to it will be sorely missed.
SR
On 08/27/2021 6:15 AM Michael Yates <mikedjyates@...> wrote:
It is with great sadness that I announce to the group that our moderator and my good friend, Louis Proyect, has died. He had a serious illness for some time. He died peacefully in his sleep on August 25. I will miss him greatly, and I assume you will as well. He began the listserv many years ago and kept it alive and growing through trying times. Louis was a voracious reader, and almost every day, he posted links to articles from a wide variety of sources on multiple subjects, from politics and economics to music and philosophy to physics and ecology. I am sure we have all learned a great deal from his posts. He did much in his life, through his efforts in Nicaragua and South Africa, for example, and with his voluminous writing, to push radical transformation forward. He allied himself with leftists around the world. He seemed to know just about everybody. Those who knew him personally know that he was a good human being, always willing to help a friend, no matter where in the world that person happened to be. He and his wife Mine showed me and my partner many kindnesses over the years.
Louis wanted the list to continue. Les Schaffer and I will see if we can make this happen. He will be posting a note today as well. In the meantime, keep posting and discussing, especially the latter. It is through thoughtful interchange than we learn how to sharpen our arguments.
Goodbye, Louis. You will live on in our hearts and in our efforts to change the world.
|
|
|
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Aug 27, 2021, at 12:00 PM, Steven L. Robinson < srobin21@...> wrote:
I, along with many others, have received this message with great sadness.
I have been a member of this list for some twenty years. Am very grateful for the work Louis did in maintaining this forum for such a long time, no easy task I am sure. The service the list provided was invaluable, especially in the 2000s which was a particularly dark time for the U.S. left. While I fervently hope this list will continue, the perspective that Louis brought to it will be sorely missed.
SR
It is with great sadness that I announce to the group that our moderator and my good friend, Louis Proyect, has died. He had a serious illness for some time. He died peacefully in his sleep on August 25. I will miss him greatly, and I assume you will as well. He began the listserv many years ago and kept it alive and growing through trying times. Louis was a voracious reader, and almost every day, he posted links to articles from a wide variety of sources on multiple subjects, from politics and economics to music and philosophy to physics and ecology. I am sure we have all learned a great deal from his posts. He did much in his life, through his efforts in Nicaragua and South Africa, for example, and with his voluminous writing, to push radical transformation forward. He allied himself with leftists around the world. He seemed to know just about everybody. Those who knew him personally know that he was a good human being, always willing to help a friend, no matter where in the world that person happened to be. He and his wife Mine showed me and my partner many kindnesses over the years.
Louis wanted the list to continue. Les Schaffer and I will see if we can make this happen. He will be posting a note today as well. In the meantime, keep posting and discussing, especially the latter. It is through thoughtful interchange than we learn how to sharpen our arguments.
Goodbye, Louis. You will live on in our hearts and in our efforts to change the world.
|
|
|
Comrades,
Am saddened. I knew the struggles that this comrade had gone through and would, on occasion, drop him a line of encouragement. He had planned to travel to the West Coast and wanted to meet. The problematics of COVID would have all but made that impossible during these times.
To comrade Michael Yates and to Louis' Marxmail closest comrade in arms, Les Shaffer, I wish y'all the best in keeping this most valued forum up and running. It is too valued an instrument to let it go. I will follow up this posting with another letter to Louis specifically regarding this list serve.
RIP Louis. You are already missed.
JAI
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|
I am a relatively recent subscriber to the list but certainly an admirer of Louis’s CounterPunch posts for a lot longer. On sharing the news of his passing with the editorial board of Socialism and Democracy, my message was met with a strong sense of sadness at his passing, respect for his contributions to our movements , and appreciation for this list and its regular contributors, not the least of whom was its moderator.
Sincerely, Suren Moodliar Managing Editor, Socialism and Democracy
Comrades,
Am saddened. I knew the struggles that this comrade had gone through and would, on occasion, drop him a line of encouragement. He had planned to travel to the West Coast and wanted to meet. The problematics of COVID would have all but made that impossible during these times.
To comrade Michael Yates and to Louis' Marxmail closest comrade in arms, Les Shaffer, I wish y'all the best in keeping this most valued forum up and running. It is too valued an instrument to let it go. I will follow up this posting with another letter to Louis specifically regarding this list serve.
RIP Louis. You are already missed.
JAI
|
|
|
I am not sure if this actually posted when I originally sent it, so I am posting it again.
I am very, very sad to read this news. Louis was one of the best people on the left in the USA and internationally. I only met him in person once, but he became my friend through our online conversations, on this list and off. He had an amazingly wide scope of knowledge, and even when he and I disagreed, I always thought his views were strongly based and strongly argued.
Anthony
|
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I am shocked and sad to hear Louis has died. My condolences to his wife and everyone who cared about him.
I will always appreciate the service Louis provided with this listserv. I learned so much from the articles he posted and the discussion. I would have missed many events and perspectives if he hadn’t been posting what he found and thought.
I appreciated his political support for my Green Party campaigns and enjoyed our occasional conversations when I was in New York City.
I will miss the flair with which he presented his clear principled politics, perhaps most of all when I disagreed, which wasn’t very often, but it always did made me think.
i know his efforts will live on though this listserv and the many people he influenced.
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I am very sad to hear of Louis’s passing. He will be missed. Michael.
On Aug 27, 2021, at 1:55 PM, Suren Moodliar <suren@...> wrote:
I am a relatively recent subscriber to the list but certainly an admirer of Louis’s CounterPunch posts for a lot longer. On sharing the news of his passing with the editorial board of Socialism and Democracy, my message was met with a strong sense of sadness at his passing, respect for his contributions to our movements , and appreciation for this list and its regular contributors, not the least of whom was its moderator.
Sincerely, Suren Moodliar Managing Editor, Socialism and Democracy
Comrades,
Am saddened. I knew the struggles that this comrade had gone through and would, on occasion, drop him a line of encouragement. He had planned to travel to the West Coast and wanted to meet. The problematics of COVID would have all but made that impossible during these times.
To comrade Michael Yates and to Louis' Marxmail closest comrade in arms, Les Shaffer, I wish y'all the best in keeping this most valued forum up and running. It is too valued an instrument to let it go. I will follow up this posting with another letter to Louis specifically regarding this list serve.
RIP Louis. You are already missed.
JAI
-- Sent from MetroMail
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Great sadness. I corresponded with Louis Proyect only a few times, but felt that I knew him and knew he could be trusted. The left is much the poorer for his loss. He had a truly encyclopedic range of interests and illuminated every topic he wrote about. Let us hope that the body of work he left behind will be preserved.
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
--W.H. Auden, "Funeral Blues
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